PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS

I N T H E SOUTHWEST
BY FLORENCE M. HAWLEY

INTRODUCTION

I N T H E prehistoric days of the Southwest, the people fashioned

their household articles after patterns handed down from
generation to generation; in fact, so conservative were they
that each of their different schools of art extended over a com-
paratively large area. As in historic art, there were developments
and changes in each school; these came through the new ideas
of some master potter or simply through natural organic growth
and decay. When the archaeologist digs up a piece of pottery,
his first effort is to classify i t according to culture area, then to
place it’in its chronological sequence. It has long been realized
that movements and developments of peoples may well be traced
through a study of their pottery; the relative chronology of pottery
types and of cultures may be determined through cross finds of
whole vessels or even of potsherds that have been traded out of
their own areas. Hitherto, only the designs, the colors, and the
pastes of pottery have been considered to any extent in this study;
I would suggest that the difference in types of prehistoric paints
as discovered through simple physical and chemical tests or
through more complete analyses presents a field of study offering
new discoveries. I t has been found that the types of paints used
in a given locality were consistent and so provide a dependable
basis of comparison with the paints of other wares. Up to the
present time there has been little scientific investigation of these
American prehistoric paints, though in 1911 Louis Franchet
printed a comprehensive study of paints and pottery other than
American in Cbamique Primitive.
For the more comprehensive chemical tests the paint must
be removed from the sherds in some way so that little of the sherd
itself comes off with the paint. Because of the exceeding thinness
731
732 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S., 31,1929

of most paint coatings, such a removal is difficult, and as the simple

tests were found to be practical in almost every case, the longer
chemical tests need be used for only the manganese paint, for
which we have found no shorter test, or as a check if the result of
any simple test is doubted. Because the black paint presents a
much wider range of differences than the other colors, it has been
found to be the most valuable for the study of culture areas and
influences. Of the four colors commonly used in pottery decoration
-red, white, buff, and black-all but the black are mineral paints.
Both vegetal and mineral paints and combinations of the two were
used to produce black.
Before one may make a detailed study of the paint materials,
something must be understood of the process of making pottery,
of the application of the paints, and of the firing. These processes
noticeably afiect the colors of most of the paints used by both the
modern and the ancient Pueblo Indians. That the modern process
of preparing the clay probably closely parallels the ancient is indi-
cated by the marked general resemblance in pastes of modern
and ancient wares, although in composition the different classes
of both the modern and ancient pottery may differ noticeably.
The lower part of a vessel is often molded in a pottery bowl
or in a large sherd saved for the purpose, although I have seen
pieces of modern Hopi ware that show the unmistakable imprint
of a modern pan upon their lower portions; verily the Indian will
be civilized! The bases of some pieces of prehistoric ware were
molded in baskets; imprints of the rim or of a few coils are oc-
casionally found three or four inches from the base of the vessel.
Pottery vessels or sherds were probably used for base molds of
other pieces then as now. Upon the clay base the potter builds up
the rest of the piece by coiling long ropes or fillets of clay around
and around upon themselves. This coiling process, used by the
ancient as well as by the modern potters of the Southwest, insures
a symmetry rivaling that obtained through the use of the wheel
by the early potters of Europe. Hand modeling couldscarcely
reach such perfection. Vessels in which the coils were not obliter-
ated show that in this type, a t least, no base mold was used; the
entire piece was built up by coiling.
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 733

The coiling leaves the surface rough; the woman smooths it

with a small paddle cut from a piece of gourd rind or with a
wooden paddle that is slightly larger. I n those wares on which no
slip was used, as the ancient San Juan massed black-on-white and
the modern Hopi, this smoothing is prolonged until a thin emul-
sion of the finest particles of clay comes to the surface and so fills
in the pores that the appearance of a slip is produced. After
the smoothing, the Hopi woman allows the pottery to dry some-
what and then rubs it down with a piece of white sandstone. In
slipped ware, the slip is now applied and dried, and the vessel is
given a final polish with a waterworn pebble; unslipped ware is
similarly polished. The woman mixes her pigments in a small stone
metate or in a more modern cup and applies them with home-
made brushes of yucca fiber. Prehistoric artists used paint slates,
tablets, or stone cups as well as metates for grinding and mixing
their colors.
After the colors have dried for a few hours, and the modern Hopi
finds the oven of the white man’s stove most efficient for this
process, a number of the completed vessels are stacked and fired
in an outdoor oven of slabs of dried sheep dung; the same material
was used for fuel. The cracks of the oven are filled with small
pieces of the dung, so that a red heat may be obtained, a tempera-
ture that will burn the pottery to almost the hardness of porce-
lain. Firing lasts for only about an hour. Little of the ancient
pottery was of as fine clay or as well burned as the modern Hopi
ware except for that massed black-on-white ware that is charac-
teristic of the San Juan and particularly of Kitsil and Betatakin
ruins in the Segi canyon. Underburning gives a bad color and
weakens the vessel; overburning discolors the pigments and the
clay. Before the Spaniards brought sheep and cattle into this
country wood and perhaps a little coal was used for fuel, and
open fires or ovens of stone slabs leaned together must have been
used.
YELLOW, RED,AND WHITEPIGMENTS
The firing changes the colors of many of the pigments and
makes them permanent. The white clay that the Hopi use for the
walls of their pottery turns to cream or even to buff in firing and
734 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N. S., 31,1929

may become orange if overfired. This is due to a slight content

of yellow iron oxide in the clay. The yellow ochre, limonite,
(2Fez032Hz0),is ground and used for the walls of their red ware
and for any red designs on the light ware; upon firing, the yellow
iron oxide changes to red iron oxide, (2Fe2O3), with a deep
brownish red color. The modern Hopi do not slip their vessels;
the high polish produced by patient rubbing with a smooth pebble
produces a background which so simulates a slip that it is usually
mistaken for one. The same yellow clay was used for the slip of
the Little Colorado black-on-red ware, and in a less pure form
and color, for the exterior of the Middle Gila polychrome vessels
and for the great amount of undecorated red ware found all
through the Southwest. Guthe reports that the orange-red slip
used on the bases and on the interior of olla lips a t New Mexico
pueblos is of a mustard yellow shade until fired. This yellow iron
oxide burns to a lighter red than that used by the Hopi, and
unlike the Hopi, these people use a red iron oxide wash for their
dark red slipped decorated ware. Equal amounts of rock temper
and white clay are mixed with water and are made into cakes
which are dried and stored away. When needed for use, these
cakes are broken up and enough is put into water to give it a
milky opaque appearance. To this is added an indefinite amount
of the red clay, the amount depending upon the shade desired.
Stevenson, speaking of the Zuiii, wrote,
The materials used to produce the red or brown colors is a yellowish impure
clay, colored from oxide of iron; indeed it is mainly clay, but contains some
sand and a very small amount of carbonate of lime [It]is generally found in
a hard, stony condition and is ground in a small stone m o r t a r . . . . and is
mixed with water so a s to form a thin solution.
The Hopi claim to use no red clays or pigments except for
body paints. Oval pats of clay mixed with ground hematite to
produce a deep red body paint were found in Turkey Hill ruin,
near Flagstaff. The clay was added to give thickness to the paint.
These pats had been bored with a transverse hole so that a string
might be run through them for suspension.
Dead white or grayish white clays were used for the white
paint, and, containing no oxide of iron, did not change color in
firing. Stevenson found inodern Pueblo Indians using
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 73 5

a fine white calcareous earth, consisting mainly of ground feldspar with a

small proportion of mica.
The material used for white paints may have varied somewhat
among the tribes but must always have been some mineral
free from iron oxides. Kaolin clay was probably the most com-
monly used.
Black paints have hitherto been the subject of some conjecture.
Carbon paints containing no silica would immediately burn off;
graphite is much too rare for general use as a paint. The balls
of carbon which are occasionally found in ruins were intended for
body decoration and not for pottery; such material could not have
been made permanently adherent.
In 1903 Hough spoke of the black paint of the Little Colorado
region-
the basis of which is iron ore, but the secret of its mixing, whether with
alkaline salts or resin, is lost, . . . .
The present study of black paints, which has thrown some light
upon that secret, has been carried on through chemical tests
made of the prehistoric paints. The data so secured were corre-
lated with those from similar tests of modern Pueblo pottery
paints. The results indicated that in their pottery decoration, as
in many other fields, these descendants of the prehistoric peoples
have carried on the traditions and customs of their ancestors
and that an examination of the materials and of the preparation
of the modern paints might be expected to furnish those con-
necting links of fact that are not apparent in a deductive study.
The apparent constancy of a paint type in an area in one or more
periods led to an investigation of the relationships between
culture areas as indicated by the change in paint areas in different
periods.
TYPES AND TESTS OF BLACKPIGMENTS

On the basis of tests made the black paints used on prehistoric

pottery may be divided into four main classes:
1. Plain carbon similar to soot or lamp black, applied by smudging.
(Not a true paint.)
2. Carbon protected by a thin, adherent, transparent film of an easily
fusible silicate. This is the vegetal extract paint.
136 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST IN. s.,31,1929

3. Carbon protected by the silicate, with the addition of red iron oxide
(Fe20s),
or yellow iron oxide) 2FeZOs2Hz0),
which burns to FezOs.
4. Paint containing chiefly some manganese oxide, (MnOJ, (Mn,04),or
(MnOOH).
T y p e 1. Smudge.--For some years it was thought that those
vessels showing a satiny black interior had been treated with a
glaze paint and that those with rough, dull black interiors had been
covered with dull paint. Test 1 indicates that these pieces were
smudged black by the same method as that used by the women
of San Ildefonso. After the vessel is fired it is filled with smoldering
organic material and kept warm upon the coals. This treatment
deposited carbon around the particles of clay of the slip or of the
polished surface where there was no slip. I n some cases the
darkened film of clay is thin; with longer subjection to the smolder-
ing matter, carbon was driven halfway through, or, rarely, entirely
through the walls of the vessel. The dull or shiny appearance of
the finished surface is due to the relative amounts of polishing the
surface receives before firing.
Cushing describes a slightly different process which would
produce the same smudged effect. Vessels
while still hot from a preliminary burning, if coated externally with the
mucilaginous juice of green cactus, internally with pinon gum or pitch, and
fired a second or even a third time with resinous wood-fuel, are rendered
absolutely fire-proof, semi-glazed with a black gloss inside, and wonderfully
durable.
The gum and juice when heated in a slow fire would deposit carbon
around the clay particles of the slip just as when the vessel was
filled with organic material and heated.
I n an open draft mufile or with an oxygen torch, heat the
sherd to redness and maintain that approximate temperature for
two or three minutes. If the torch is used, the flame must be
moved over the sherd so that plenty of oxygen may reach the
surface. Carbon deposited by smudging will burn out, leaving
the clay its original color. The depth to which the carbon has
penetrated will determine the length of time i t will require for
burning out.
Paint which is purely vegetal in composition and which has
not burned onto the pottery would also burn off, but such paints
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 131

are very rare, the black paint used by the modern Pima and
Papago being the only type I have found to burn off, and some of
these people claim that they use the commercial paint. Differ-
entiation between paints and smudges in such cases is not difficult.
Smudges can only be applied in large undefined areas or over an
entire surface; only paints may be applied in areas decorated with
designs. An examination of a cross-section of the wall of the vessel
will indicate whether smudge, which penetrates the wall, or
paint, which scarcely sinks into the surface has been used. I n
testing, the temperature to which a sherd is subjected must not be
high enough for the surface to become fused.
If the black paint gives no reaction to test 1, it should be tested
for type 2 or 3 paint.
Types 2 and 3 (Carbon: Carbon and Iron).-The carbon paint
of type 2 was applied as a vegetal extract. Type 3 consisted of a
similar solution, to which was added iron oxide. In both types the
carbon was protected by a silica film or incipient glaze.
The silica film of these types of paint must not be confused
with any heavy glaze which covers the surface of a pigment. It is
rather a very thin coating which surrounds individual particles
or groups of particles of carbon and which, in testing, must be
removed by treatment with hydrofluoric acid before the carbon
may be burned out. This film protected their paint during firing.
Occasionally a white crystallization of the glaze material may be
seen along the edges of bands of black paint.
In a study of prehistoric paints, it is obvious that although the
physical and chemical properties of the paints used might be
ascertained, there is no possible way of discovering how the
paints were prepared, or, in the case of black paint, in what form
the carbon was applied. After proving by test, however, that the
black paint of the Hopi corresponds exactly to type 3 of the
prehistoric paints, a collection of Hopi paint materials was made,
together with information concerning their preparation. It will
be noted that the only difference between paints of types 2 and 3
is the presence of iron oxide in the latter. Thus, a study of Hopi
black paint before the iron oxide is added may be expected to
explain type 2.
738 A M E R l C A N ANTHROPOLOGIST IN. S . , 3 1 , 1929

Walpi and Hano on the First Mesa are the only Hopi pueblos
in which pottery is made. Some of the specimens of paint in-
gredients obtained came from Humisi of Walpi; the others, and
corroborative evidence concerning their preparation, were given
by Nampeo, most famous potter of Hano. Humisi is Hopi;
Nampeo is Tewa, but the methods of their art are exactly alike.
A small bushy plant of the genus Sophia, one of the Mustard
family, springs up on the Hopi reservation in the fall, grows to
about eight inches high during the winter, breaks into yellow
blossoms in the spring, and dies in April. The women pull up
the little plants about March, dry them, and store them for the
future. When black paint is to be made, the plants are boiled in
water for several hours, the fibrous parts are removed, and the
solution is again boiled until i t becomes black, thick, and syrupy.
The thick fluid is poured into corn husks to dry and harden.
Several days are required for this hardening, but the Zuiii, who
use the Guaco or Bee plant, Cleome serrulutu or integrefolia,
prepare it similarly, and claim that the paint is better if left
to harden for several months before using. Some Zuiii boil their
liquid several times so that it is quite thick when it is poured out
on a board to dry in the sun. The hard cakes so produced may be
kept for an indefinite period.
A small amount of this hard black material, “no matter how
small,” they assured me, is dissolved in a little water on a tiny
metate or in a stone paint grinder. Both Hopi and Zufii rub a
small block of hematite over the stone until enough iron oxide is
ground off to make the solution about as thick as gravy. The
paint is applied to”the pottery with brushes made by shredding
out the fibers of one end of a piece of yucca leaf about three inches
long. Brushes vary in thickness according to the size of the line
for which they are intended.
Different species of the C‘leome and of the Mustard are common
throughout the Southwest and were probably used where those
mentioned here were not indigenous.
In considering paint of type 2, the analysis would be of only
the plant extract, for the paint consisted of this dissolved in water
with no addition of other matter. The extract analyzed as follows:
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC P O T T E R Y PIGMEA'TS 739

Volatile and combustible . . . . ..... ...... 7 1 5%

Ash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28.5%
The volatile matter consists of various combinations of carbon,
hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Partial analysis of ash:
Silica (SiOJ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2%
Alumina (A1O8). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2
Iron oxide ( F e 2 0 3 ) . . . . . . . . . . . ........... 7.2
Lime (CaO) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ................ 9.5
Magnesia (MgO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .I
Alkalies (KzO) and (NazO). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.5

Considerable of carbon dioxide, (COz) combined with the alkalies

and the lime is also present.
The chemical analyses given in this paper were done by F. G.
Hawley, Chief Chemist of the International Smelter, Miami,
Arizona. Mr. Hawley is likewise responsible for some of the
tests which are here given.
I t is apparent that this vegetal extract contains two widely
different substances, the carbonaceous matter, which is composed
principally of carbon and hydrogen and thus obviougly entirely
combustible, and the mineral matter which burns to ash. The
principal constituents of this ash are sodium carbonate and
potassium carbonate; both are alkalies which act alike in these
paint reactions. Minor constituents of the ash are silica and lime.
Alkali carbonates are among the few mineral substances that
will melt at a fairly low temperature. The pottery clay is pre-
dominantly silica and contains a little soluble alkali. I n type 3 ,
the iron oxide contains silica as an impurity, which being finely
ground, is easily available. The silicates and the carbonates melt
to form a silicate film over the carbon, a film too thin to actually
warrant being called a glaze. I t is transparent and leaves the
black appearance of the carbon, which will not be burned out if
the vessel is kept surrounded with burning fuel which will exclude
the oxygen during the time the film flows over and around those
particles.
If this vegetal paint is heated in air, all of the carbonaceous
matter burns out, but when oxygen is excluded, the hydrogen
740 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S., 31,1929

combined with a definite amount of the carbon volatilizes; the

rest of the carbon is left as a black residue, which, after i t is pro-
tected by the silicate film, will not burn off even with excess air.
The only exception is the occasional slow burning off of carbon
when oxygen diffuses through the film. This, in type 3, leaves a
reddish brown color from the iron oxide residue. Black-on-white
ware is sometimes found with the paint black on one side of the
vessel and burned to a light brown on the other. Occasionally a
vessel is seen in which all of the paint has been burned to red
brown. In the firing process, the film of fusible silicate aids
considerably in sintering the carbon or the carbon and iron
oxide of the paint to the slip and so prevents any possible washing
or rubbing off. Red iron oxide paints also contain silica and
alkalies and so in firing sinter to the clay of the vessel and become
permanent, but white paint, which contains only a trace of al-
kalies, is sometimes easily removed.
Test 2
With a platinum or a glass rod or even with a splinter of wood,
apply a drop of hydrofluoric acid (HF) to a cold sherd and allow
it to trickle across the paint. If the acid is absorbed before the end
of ten seconds, apply a second drop in the same place and in
similar manner. I n from 30 to 45 seconds or after the acid is all
dried or absorbed, place the piece in an open draft mufle and ignite
to a red heat for about five minutes. Remove from the muffle
and examine when cold; the color changes in cooling. If an
oxygen torch is being used for the tests, do not heat the sherd
while even slightly damp, for the heated acid will give the pottery
a reddish brown tint that makes accurate observations impossible.
Applying the acid to a warm sherd is to be avoided for the same
reason. If the paint tested was composed of carbon protected with
a thin layer of silicate, type 2, the acid will have liberated the
carbon from the silica, and the black will have burned entirely
off or will have left only a shadowy gray streak. The gray may be
due to the paint which penetrated the surface and so has not been
affected by the heat or acid.
Test 2 is practical for common use in distinguishing carbon
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY FIGMENTS 711

paints of type 2, but for a final test for carbon in any doubtful
paint, a chemical test using an asperator may be resorted to.
Hydrofluoric acid is an almost universal solvent, but i t will not
attack carbon. When applied to the pottery, i t would, if strong
enough and left for enough time, dissolve not only the silica film
of the paint, but also any iron oxide in the paint or slip, and even
the whole sherd. Hence, it is necessary to limit the amount used
and the time it is allowed to be in contact with the paint. Practice
rather than any rule is the only way of obtaining good results,
especially on new types of pottery. Used as directed, the HF
attacks the fine clay of the surface and dissolves it so that it may
be easily washed or rubbed off. The necessary limiting of HF will
frequently prevent its action on paint that has penetrated below
the surface.
Test 3. Iron and Carbon
If the paint is composed of carbon and iron oxide, protected
by the silica film, the carbon will be burned out by test 2, but the
iron will be left as a reddish brown stain on the surface.
Porous ware will quickly absorb the acid, so that two appli-
cations are often necessary. Some surfaces, as that of the Kayenta
polychrome, are quickly eaten away by the acid, so that nothing
is left to be tested. In treating these, the acid must be made to
trickle across quickly and drop off a t the side or be washed off
with a light jet of water. Hard surfaces and thick paint coats,
especially those of the black-on-red wares, require long acid treat-
ment, ranging from two to six applications. Should there be oil
on the sherd in amounts enough to prevent the HF from wetting
it, the oil should be driven off through gentle heating.
Although this test is simple and gives good results on black-on-
white wares, it sometimes fails on black-on-red. If the black paint
of a red sherd gives no reaction to test 3, i t is probably due to one
of two causes. The paint may be of type 4,containing manganese,
which must be determined through other chemical tests, or the
red iron oxide of type 3 paint may have been changed to black iron
oxide, or magnetite, during the original firing of the vessel.
Magnetite remains on the sherd after the carbon has been burned
742 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.s.,31,1929

out, but as it is black in itself, we cannot determine whether the

paint contains the black iron oxide or the magnetite until i t is
chemically tested. The polychrome of the Kayenta region is the
only ware so far discovered to be decorated with paint consisting
principally of manganese oxide, although some others have been
found to contain some manganese as an impurity in the red iron
oxide paint.
For a final test for iron and for the manganese test the paint
must be removed from the sherds by acid.
Select a sherd on which there is a 1/4 to 1/2 inch mass of black
paint. Warm slightly. Moisten with two or three drops equal parts
HF and HC1 and leave for one or two minutes. Add one or two
drops more of HCI. This will have loosened the paint so that it
may be rinsed into a porcelain dish. Rub the remaining streak of
disintegrated paint with a glass rod to loosen the particles still
adhering and rinse into the same dish. Keep amount of water used
a t a minimum.
Test 3a. Iron
To the paint removed by the above method, add two to eight
drops HCl and two drops of sulphuric acid, (H2S04). Boil to dense
fumes of sulphuric. (Only the two drops of HaSO, will be left in
the vessel and dense white smoke will rise from it.) Add one tea-
spoonful of water and agitate until dissolved. Pour 1/3 of the
solution into a test-tube or beaker and add two or three drops
HC1 and about 100 mg. potassium ferrocyanide (KsFe(CN)s). A
resulting strong blue color indicates iron. As all pottery contains
some iron, and as it is usually especially plentiful in the slip,
the depth of the color obtained must be taken into consideration.
If carbon was present in the paint, it will be seen as minute black
particles floating in the solution until the sulphuric acid begins
to fume.
Test 4. Manganese
Pour remainder of paint solution not used in test for iron
into a test tube. Add to it an equal amount of nitric acid (HNOJ)
and from 100 to 300 nig. sodium bismuthate. The solution must
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 743

not be warm. A resulting purple color indicates the presence of

Mn.
CONCLUSION
From the table it will be seen that carbon paint was developed
in the San Juan in the early stages of pottery making, for i t is
found on the crude black-on-white ware made by the people of
the circular pit houses. Carbon paint was used on black-on-white
ware in this area, with the exception of Chaco canyon, to the end of
the late prehistoric pueblo period. If carbon paint was the type
for this area, why do we find manganese paint used on the Kayenta
polychrome? This might seem to indicate a lack of constancy in
paint types, but further consideration will furnish a reason that at
present seems more plausible. After firing, the yellow clay used
for the polychrome ware has not the hard porcelain texture
noticeable in the white clay of this region. This yellow clay was
very soft and friable and would not take a high polish; neither
would it provide a surface firm enough to take and preserve a
carbon paint. When applied to the porous surface, the plant ex-
tract would sink into the pores and would not be well enough
protected by the silicate film to withstand firing; the carbon would
soon be burned out. It could have taken but few trials to convince
the people of this, and, not being used to the more resistant carbon
and iron paint used by their neighbors of the Little Colorado, they
probably tried dark clays and minerals until they found that one
which would be permanent on the friable clay. Manganese occurs
in black nodules and also in the dark clays around the edges of
ponds, streams, and marshy lands. I t would be natural to try
this material early in their search, and, finding i t suitable for
their needs, they adopted it for their polychrome pottery but
adhered to their old, more easily obtainable vegetal extract for
the black-on-white ware on the hard surface of which it adhered
well.
Over just what area the earliest black-on-white paint extended
has not been determined as yet, but i t covered the general San
Juan area with the exception of Chaco canyon and the Lucachuca
mountains, from where the Vandal Cave material was gathered.
744 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S . , 3 1 , 1 9 2 9

Both of these districts come into that great southern and eastern
area which used iron and carbon combined in their paint during
the whole period of prehistoric pottery making. The circumference
of this area stretched out or receded as the influence of its people
increased or decreased.

MAP 1

Before the great days of Cliff Palace or of Pueblo Bonito,

while Kitsil and Betatakin and other great pueblos of the San
Juan were still in their early stages, making the wide line black-on-
white ware that came in a t the beginning of the great Pueblo
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 745

period, and when Tularosa black-on-white was the type ware for
the Middle as well as for the Upper Gila, carbon paint seems
to have been used from Mesa Verde to Kayenta, at Flagstaff,
and in the Jeddito valley and Hopi country. Iron paint was used
a t Pecos, Pueblo Bonito, in the Little Colorado valley, in the
White mountains of Arizona, in the Verde valley, in the Roosevelt
district and in those adjacent regions north of the Gila river
between San Carlos and Gila bend, which region may be desig-
nated as the Middle Gila, in the Upper Gila and Tularosa, and on
the Mimbres (see map 1). On this map and following, dotted lines
indicate iron-plus-carbon paint area, and unbroken lines indicate
carbon paint area. I t will be noticed that these sites from which
sherds were tested, when plotted on a map readily divide them-
selves into two great areas, each of which used one of the two
main types of black paint. This distribution seems to have re-
mained unchanged until some time after the massed black-on-
white was developed in the San Juan. The next period, following
closely on the first, shows a new type of ware in the northern sec-
tion of the Middle Gila; the Little Colorado influence had come
south and Little Colorado black-on-red ware was introduced.
As type 3 paint had already been used on the Tularosa black-on-
white ware, however, the new influence did not affect the paint
distribution as plotted on map 1.
The first important change in paint areas came with a new
pottery development in the Roosevelt district of the Middle Gila,
which would seem to indicate the strength and far-reaching
influence of the carbon paint area a t that time. This is the period
of the early Middle Gila polychrome, that black-on-whi te-on-red
ware which seems to be the result of a combination of the black-
on-red and the black-on-white hitherto predominant in this area.
The new polychrome ware was characteristically decorated with
dual-quadrate designs, those designs in which there are usually
four large individual triangular duplicate design areas arranged
around a simplified swastika, so that the center of the bowl is left
undecorated. There are variations to the design arrangements.
These characteristics and the use of carbon paint here seem to be
a sure reflection of northern influence (see map 2).
746 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.s., 31,1929

Soon after the birth of this early Middle Gila polychrome ware
came the decay of Pueblo Bonito, and slightly later of Cliff
Palace. This period marked the beginning of the decline of the
carbon paint area, and, as we might expect, the iron paint began
to expand into what had been the carbon paint districts. Little

Colorado influence stretched out into the Jeddito valley and the
Hopi country on the north, to Flagstaff on the west, and to Casas
Grandes, Chihuahua on the south. Except a t Casas Grandes,
Little Colorado black-on-red ware which was decorated with
type 3 paint replaced the old San Juan black-on-white (see map 3).
HAWLEV] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 141

The final abandonment of the great pueblos of the Kayenta

section of the San Juan came soon after and marked the last use
of carbon paint in the north. The vegetal extract paint was still
used on the late Middle Gila polychrome, the commonly known
degenerate ware which grew out of the early Middle Gila poly-

chrome. The late polychrome spread west to Phoenix and on to

Gila bend, and south to Casa Grande, in both of which districts
the red-on-buff characteristic of the southern Middle Gila area
had been predominant. On the Middle Gila carbon paint was used
748 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S.,31,1929

until the end of the prehistoric Pueblo period. The iron paint
area had been shrunk somewhat by the loss of Pueblo Bonito,
but in the main it occupied much the same area as previously
(see map 4).

MAP4

After the northern carbon paint area had entirely disappeared,

Jeddito yellow ware became popular in the Jeddito valley and in
the Hopi district; glazes C and D were developed in the Little
Colorado country, and glazes I, 11, and 111 were used at Pecos.
Now the Middle Gila culture, last to use carbon paint, disap-
HAWLEY1 PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 149

peared. I t has been debated whether Sikyatki ware belongs to a

very late prehistoric or an early historic period, but at Sikyatki
and throughout the Jeddito section iron paint lasted on to the end.
Pecos made glazes IV, V, and VI and then was no more. Zufii used
glazes E and F even into modern times but now has gone back
to the old dull paints. Thus we find iron paint lasting on into the
present period in the pueblos of the Hopi in Arizona and in the
villages of the Zuiii and other Pueblo Indians in New Mexico.
I n time there must be changes and addition to this brief
history of pottery paint and to the summary of cultural expansions
and influences as indicated to an important extent by a study of
paints. As every evidence would indicate that in their use of paint
materials they were even more conservative than in their selection
of designs, the testing of an adequate number of representative
sherds might be expected to fill in many details in the movements
and influences of a people. In the work already done, the type of
paint used in each pueblo from which pottery was tested was
plotted with pins on a large map, so that areas were even more
evident than they seem on a small map where it was only possible
to use crosses to indicate districts, not individual pueblos. Ob-
taining sufficient sherds of the earliest types of wares to determine
whether carbon or iron paint was the first to originate, or whether
each originated a t about the same time in different areas, has been
impossible as yet, but after such material is available new light
may be shed on some of the perplexing problems of the earliest
pottery makers of the Southwest.
750 AMERlCAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.S., 31. 1929

TABLEOF BLACKPAINTS
Carbon Paint Area

AREAS WARESTESTED
-~ .
San Juan-circular pit house . . . Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Kayenta ..................... Massed b1ack.on.white . . . . . . . . 2
Kayenta polychrome . . . . . . . . . 4
Wide line black-on-white (early) 2

Segi canyon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Kitsil Massed black.on.white . . . . . . . . 2
Wide line black.on.white. . . . . . 2
Kayenta polychrome . . . . . . . . . . 4

Betatakin Massed black . on.white . . . . . . . . 2

Wide line black.on.white . . . . . . 2
Kayenta polychrome . . . . . . . . . 4

Red lake . . . . . ............ Wide line black.on.white. . . . . 2

Kayenta polychrome . . . . . . . . . 4

Nietsie canyon ............ Massed black.on.white . . . . . . . 2

Kayenta polychrome . . . . . . . . 4
Mesa Verde . . ............
Cliff Palace Black-on-white 2
Flagstaff ......................
Turkey Hill ruin Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior . . . . . . 1
Elden ruin Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior . . . . . . 1
Old Caves Acropolis* Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Ruin 1 mile S . E . of Winona Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior. . . . . . 1
Young’s Creek ruin 1 Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior . . . . . . 1
Young’s Creek ruin 2 Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Oraibi. early* . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Massed black-on-white . . . . . . . 2
Jeddito valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sikyatki Massed black.on.white . . . . . . . 2
Kokopiny ama Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Lululongturqui Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Kawaikuh Massed b1ack.on.white . . . . . . . 2
Biddahoochee Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
* Sites marked with an asterisk will be found in both tables
HAWLEY] PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 751

Carbon Paint Area (Continued)

AREAS
--
I- WARESTESTED PAINT TYPE

Middle Gila. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Miami-Globe district
Hairpin ruin* Early Middle Gila polychrome. 2
Late Middle Gila poly.. . . . . . , . 2
Plain red, black interior.. . . . . . 1
Hilltop House* Little Colorado black-on-red . . . 2
Early Middle Gila poly.. , . , . . . 2
Plain red, black interior. . . . . . . 1
Corrugated, black interior. . , , . 1
Beed Mountain House Late Middle Gila poly.. . , . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior 1
Corrugated, black interior. , . . . 1
Healey Terrace Late Middle Gila poly.. , . , , , . . 2
Plain red, black interior., , . , . , 1
Sunburnt Ranch-I Late Middle Gila poly.. . . . . . . . 2
Togetsoge Late Middle Gila poly.. , . . . . . . 2
I
Plain red, black interior,. , . . . . ' 1
Casa Grande Late Middle Gila poly.. . , , , , , . 2
Plain red, black interior.. . . . . . 1
San Carlos Bird ruin Late Middle Gila poly.. , . . . . . . 2
Plain red, black interior. , , , . . . 1
Little Colorado black-on-red 2
Roosevelt district. . , . . . . . . . Early Middle Gila poly.. . . . . . , 2
Late Middle Gila poly.. . . . . , , , 2
Corrugated, black int.. . . . . . . . 1
Plain red, black int.. . . . , . . , , .
Tonto Cliff Dwellings. . . . . . . . . . . . I Late Middle Gila poly.. . , . . . . ,
1
2
752 A M E R l C A N ANTHROPOLOGIST .
[N S . , 31. 1929

Iron plrrs Carbon Point Area

AREAS WARESTESTED PAINTTYPE

Little Colorado area .

White Mountains
Saw Mill Black-on-white 3
Corrugated. black int . 1
Silver Creek valley
Forestdale Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Little Col. black-on-red . . 3
Shumway Little Col. black-on-red . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Showlow Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Corrugated, black int . . . . . . . . . 1
Snowflake Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Linden
Pottery hill Little Col . b1ack.on.red . . . . . . . 3
Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Corrugated, black int . . . . . . . . . 1
Chaves pass Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Little Colorado valley
Hawikuh Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Puerco Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
St. John’s
Tucker ruin .
Little Col black.on.red . . . . . . 3
Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Plain red, black int . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Petrified Forest
Canyon Butte Wash Little Colorado black.on.red . . . 3
Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Corrugated, black int . . . . . . . . . *1
Plain red, black in t . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Stone Axe ruin Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
McDonald’s canyon Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
.
Little Col black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Chaco canyon . . . . . .
Pueblo Bonito Early black-on-white 3
Black.on.white . . 3
Jeddito valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sikyatki Little Col. black-on-red 3
HAWLEY 1 PREHISTORIC POTTERY PIGMENTS 7.53

Iron plus Carbon Paint Areu (Continued)

AREAS WARESTESTED PAINT TYPE

Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sikyatki ware . . . . . 3
Kokopinyama Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Lululon turq ui Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Little Col . I>lack-on-red. . . . . . 7

Kawaikuh
Sikyatki ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Awatobi Little Col . black-on-red . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sikyatki ware. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Oraibi . . . . . . . . . . . Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Sikyatki ware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Verde valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Clemenceau
Sngar Loaf mountain Little Col. black.on.red . . . . . . . 3
Black-on-white. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Montezuma’s castle Little Colorado black-on-red . . . 3
Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Ridge ruin Jeddito yellow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Middle Gila . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Miami-Globe district
Hilltop House* .
Little Col black.on.red . . . . . . . . 3
Tularosa black-on-white . . . . . . . 3
Plain red, black int . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Corrugated, black int . . . . . . . . . . 1
Black-on-White ruin Tularosa black-on-white . . . . . . . 3
Little Col.black-on-red . . . . . . . . 3
Sunburnt Ranch ruin Tularosa black-on-white . . . . . 3
Koosevelt district*
Numerous ruins Tularosablack.on.white . . . . . . 3
Little Col. black-on-red . . . . . . . 3
Plain red, black int . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Corrugated, black int . . . . . . . 1
San Carlos
Bird ruin* .
Little Col blac.k.on-red . . . . . . . . 3
Tularom black-on-white . . . . . 3
Red on smudged black, buff
exterior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
754 AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST [N.~.,31,1929

AREAS WARESTESTED PAINTTYPE

___ ---
Upper Gila. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tularosa black-on-white. . . . . . . . 3
Little Col. black-on-red,. . . . . . . . 3
Plain red, black int.. . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Bylas Tularosa black-on-white . . . . . . . . 3
Little Col. black-on-red.. . . . . . . . 3
Corrugated,black int.. . . . . . . . . . 1
Mimbres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black-on-white . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. . . . . . . . Polychrome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

ARIZONA
STATEMUSEUM,
UNIVERSITY
OF ARIZONA